The 2026 Heisman Trophy race is starting to take shape after the season’s first full slate of games. Miami quarterback Darian Mensah’s blowout performance against Stanford has vaulted him to the top of the odds board, though preseason favorites CJ Carr and Arch Manning remain firmly in the conversation. College football betting markets on the Heisman are among the most heavily bet futures of the year, and LegalSportsReport is tracking the odds for every contender below as of September 10, 2026.
2026-27 Heisman Trophy betting favorites
Mensah opened the season as a long shot, but a five-touchdown outing against Stanford has made him the outright favorite on most boards. Last year’s biggest names are still carrying plenty of weight, and a couple of newcomers have pushed their way into the picture as well. Here is how the market for college football’s top individual honor looks right now.
- Darian Mensah, Miami QB: +550
- CJ Carr, Notre Dame QB: +800
- Arch Manning, Texas QB: +900
- Julian Sayin, Ohio State QB: +1400
- Dante Moore, Oregon QB: +1500
- Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State WR: +1500
- Malachi Toney, Miami WR: +1500
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss QB: +1600
- John Mateer, Oklahoma QB: +2000
- Josh Hoover, Indiana QB: +2200
Mensah’s rise is the headline out of week one. The Miami transfer completed better than 90% of his passes for 401 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-6 win over Stanford, and receiver Malachi Toney turned in a school record afternoon with three of those scores, which is why his own number tumbled from +4000 into a tie for the middle of the pack. If Mensah keeps this up, Miami could have two players in the Heisman conversation deep into the fall.
Carr and Manning enter the week as the next two names on the board, and both still have a real case to reclaim the top spot once more results are in. Manning looked comfortable in Texas’ 59-7 opening win over Texas State, throwing four touchdown passes, while Notre Dame closes out the week Sunday night against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, a game that will give bettors their first real read on Carr this season.
Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith both stayed productive in a 56-3 rout of Ball State, with Smith hauling in eight catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. The pair get a signature opportunity when the Buckeyes travel to face Manning and Texas in a Week 2 rematch on Sept. 12. Oregon’s Dante Moore needed a late touchdown to hold off Boise State, throwing for three scores in a 34-27 win that kept the Ducks unbeaten.
Trinidad Chambliss has Ole Miss back in the mix this season, though his week one numbers were still coming in as the Rebels kicked off against Louisville in Nashville on Sunday evening. Oklahoma’s John Mateer opened his season with three touchdown passes in a 51-0 shutout of UTEP, and Indiana’s Josh Hoover threw four touchdowns in a 52-16 win over North Texas, though his own odds actually lengthened slightly as the board recalibrated around Mensah’s breakout.
Recent Heisman Trophy history
There have been 90 Heisman Trophy winners (91 awards) since the first one in 1935. One player, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, won the award twice, in 1974 and 1975. The award was originally called the DAC Trophy and was given out by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City, in recognition of the best college football player east of the Mississippi River. The award was later renamed for the club’s late athletic director, John Heisman, and the focus expanded to include college football players nationwide.
In the early years of the award, running backs dominated the field. It has been a different story in recent times, with quarterbacks winning the Heisman Trophy in eight of the last 10 seasons. All told, QBs lead the all-time list of winners by position with 39 Heisman wins.
| Season | Heisman Winner | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Lamar Jackson | QB | Louisville |
| 2017 | Baker Mayfield | QB | Oklahoma |
| 2018 | Kyler Murray | QB | Oklahoma |
| 2019 | Joe Burrow | QB | LSU |
| 2020 | DeVonta Smith | WR | Alabama |
| 2021 | Bryce Young | QB | Alabama |
| 2022 | Caleb Williams | QB | USC |
| 2023 | Jayden Daniels | QB | LSU |
| 2024 | Travis Hunter | WR/CB | Colorado |
| 2025 | Fernando Mendoza | QB | Indiana |
USC now stands alone atop the school leaderboard with eight Heisman winners after Caleb Williams’ 2022 win pushed the Trojans past the pack. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Ohio State are tied for second with seven apiece. Alabama sits next with four, and two of those (DeVonta Smith in 2020 and Bryce Young in 2021) have come within the last 10 seasons.
Over the last 10 seasons, the SEC leads the conference race with four winners, the Big 12 has three, and the Big Ten, the ACC, and the since-dissolved Pac-12 have one apiece.
Heisman Trophy FAQs
Yes. Multiple online sportsbooks typically offer futures odds on potential Heisman winners, and those odds will shift as the season progresses.
Technically, all players in every division of college football are eligible for the Heisman. In practice, the award almost always goes to a player from one of the major Division I schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
A voting panel consisting mainly of media members who cover college football votes on the award. The voting panel also includes past Heisman winners and one sponsor vote that an online fan ballot decides.
Yes, though it’s extremely rare. Quarterbacks and running backs have dominated Heisman voting in most years. Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson remains the only primarily defensive player to win the award, taking it home in 1997. Colorado’s Travis Hunter came the closest since then, winning the 2024 Heisman as a true two-way player who racked up 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns at wide receiver while also picking off four passes and breaking up 11 more at cornerback. His offensive numbers were strong enough on their own that he doesn’t count as a purely defensive winner, but no player has impacted a Heisman race on defense the way he did in decades.